List of adjectival and demonymic forms for countries and nations explained

The following is a list of adjectival and demonymic forms of countries and nations in English and their demonymic equivalents. A country adjective describes something as being from that country, for example, "Italian cuisine" is "cuisine of Italy". A country demonym denotes the people or the inhabitants of or from there; for example, "Germans" are people of or from Germany.

Demonyms are given in plural forms. Singular forms simply remove the final s or, in the case of -ese endings, are the same as the plural forms. The ending -men has feminine equivalent -women (e.g. Irishman, Scotswoman). The French terminations French: -ois / French: -ais serve as both the singular and plural masculine; adding e (French: -oise / French: -aise) makes them singular feminine; es (French: -oises / French: -aises) makes them plural feminine. The Spanish and Portuguese termination Spanish; Castilian: -o usually denotes the masculine, and is normally changed to feminine by dropping the Spanish; Castilian: -o and adding Spanish; Castilian: -a. The plural forms are usually Spanish; Castilian: -os and Spanish; Castilian: -as respectively.

Adjectives ending in -ish can be used as collective demonyms (e.g. "the English", "the Cornish"). So can those ending in -ch / -tch (e.g. "the French", "the Dutch") provided they are pronounced with a 'ch' sound (e.g. the adjective Czech does not qualify).

Many place-name adjectives and many demonyms are also used for various other things, sometimes with and sometimes without one or more additional words. (Sometimes, the use of one or more additional words is optional.) Notable examples are cuisines, cheeses, cat breeds, dog breeds, and horse breeds. (See List of words derived from toponyms.)

In cases where two or more adjectival forms are given, there is often a subtle difference in usage between the two. This is particularly the case with Central Asian countries, where one form tends to relate to the nation and the other tends to relate to the predominant ethnic group (e.g. Uzbek is primarily an ethnicity, Uzbekistani relates to citizens of Uzbekistan).

List

Country/entity nameAdjectivalsDemonyms
Abkhazians
Afghans
Ålanders
Albanians
Algerians
American Samoans
Andorrans
Angolans
Anguillans
Antarctic residents, Antarcticans
Armenians
Arubans
Australians
Austrians
data-sort-value="Bahamas"Bahamians
Bahrainis
Bangladeshis
Barbadians
Belarusians
Belgians
Belizeans
Bhutanese
Bolivian Bolivians
Bonaire Dutch
Botswanan Batswana (singular Motswana)
Bouvet Islanders
Brazilians
British
Bruneians
Bulgarians
Cabo Verdeans
Cambodians
Cameroonians
Canadians
Caymanians
Central Africans
Chadians
Chileans
Chinese
Christmas Islanders
Cocos Islanders
Colombians
data-sort-value="Congo-DR"Congolese
data-sort-value="Congo-R"Congolese
Cook Islanders
Costa Ricans
Cubans
Curaçaoan Curaçaoans
Cypriots
Czechs
Danes
Djiboutians
Dominicans
Dominicans
Timorese
Ecuadorians
Egyptian Egyptians
Eritrean Eritreans
Estonians
Swazis
Europeans
Falkland Islanders
Faroese
Fijians
Finns
French Guianese
French Polynesians
French
data-sort-value="Gambia"Gambians
Georgians
Germans
Ghanaians
Gibraltarians
Greenlanders
Grenadians
Guamanians
Guatemalans
Guernsey Guernseymen and Guernseywomen
Guineans
Bissau-Guineans
Guyanese
Haitians
Hondurans
Icelanders
Indians
Indonesians
Iraqis
Israelis
Italians
Ivorians
Jamaicans
Jan Mayen residents
Japanese Japanese
Jersey
Jordanians
Kenyans
I-Kiribati
data-sort-value="Korea-DPR"North Korean
data-sort-value="Korea-R"South Korean
Kosovars
Kuwaitis
Lebanese
Basotho (singular Mosotho)
Liberians
Libyans
Liechtensteiners
Lithuanians
Luxembourgers
Malagasy, MadagascanMalagasy, Madagascans
Malawians
Malaysians
Maldivians
Malians
Maltese
Marshallese
Mauritanians
Mauritians
Mahorans
Mexicans
Micronesians
Moldovans
Montenegrins
Montserratians
Moroccans
Mozambicans
MyanmarMyanmar
Namibian Namibians
Nauruans
New Caledonians
New Zealanders
Nicaraguans
Nigeriens
Nigerians
Niueans
Norfolk Islanders
Macedonians
Northern Marianans
Norwegians
Omanis
Pakistanis
Palauans
Palestinians
Panamanians
Paraguayans
Peruvians
Pitcairn Islanders
Poles
Portuguese
Puerto Ricans
Qatari Qataris
Romanians
Russians
Saba Dutch
Saint Helenians
Saint Lucians
Samoans
Sammarinese
São Toméans
Senegalese
Seychellois/Seychelloises
Sierra Leonean Sierra Leoneans
Singaporeans
Statians
Sint Maarteners
Solomon Islanders